Town Hall to close during redevelopment

With the design work nearing completion, a review of the construction sequence and safety concerns means the Town Hall will close completely for about 12 months during the Dunedin Centre redevelopment project.

“It had been hoped to open the Town Hall from time to time during construction for important events, particularly graduation ceremonies, but it is now clear that would not be possible”, said Dunedin City Council Strategy and Development General Manager Kate Styles.

“The Town Hall is a much-loved and well used venue in Dunedin and we have been very mindful of that during the planning stages of the redevelopment. However, this is a large and complex project and it has become clear that trying to open the Town Hall from time to time was going to pose a number of difficulties.

“Our biggest concern was the health and safety issues involved with having part of a large building site open to the public” said Ms Styles, who added “It has also become clear that re-opening the building for one-off events would have placed too many restrictions on the construction process. This could have delayed the project which would add considerably to the budget because of the contingency funding that would have to be factored in. The budget on this project is such that we could not afford to take that kind of risk.”

Ms Styles said discussions were being held with the key organisations affected and the Council would be working with them to find alternative venues. The Council had also held discussions with other venue operators and would ensure there was as much co-ordination as possible to match venues and users.

“It is disappointing for everyone affected by this decision. But in the long run Dunedin is going to have a Town Hall and Dunedin Centre that will serve it well for many more years. We have to take a long-term view and make the decisions now that will ensure the best outcome for the project,” said Ms Styles.

Ms Styles said timeframes for the rest of the project were not affected by this decision and the project would be completed as scheduled by the end of 2011. Preliminary work would start on site early next year, with the main construction work beginning in the Municipal Chambers and the Glenroy Auditorium building in March. Work in the Town Hall will start in late May 2010.

The first part of the project to be finished will be the Municipal Chambers, in February 2011, followed by the Town Hall in July 2011 and the overall project completed in late 2011.